


History of the Magical World: An Excerpt From...

by LizaGreen



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Crack, Crack Treated Seriously, Even at 1500 years old, Historical Fantasy, Historical Figures, History of Hogwarts, I found a plot, Maybe - Freeform, Merlin is a Little Shit (Merlin), Oh look, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Severus Snape is So Done, There is a story in here I promise..., history of the magical world, kind of
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-16
Updated: 2020-06-17
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:48:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22745065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LizaGreen/pseuds/LizaGreen
Summary: Two Professors of Magical History disagree on the role of certain figures within their own past. Was Merlin real or mythical? Did King Arthur really have a manservant so interested in brass? Were the Founders as black and white as they first appeared? Will D.M. Marblake and Janet Bartlett ever stop writing their arguments for the world to read?A humble publishing by a timid writer witnessing this epic battle.
Relationships: Merlin & Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 61





	1. The beginnings of a fued

**Author's Note:**

> There is a plot here somewhere. Maybe. Potentially.
> 
> ...Please enjoy?

**An Excerpt from 'Myths and Folktales of the Magical World: The Truth Behind the Curtain' by D.M. Marblake, Chapter 1: The Beginnings**

In the Wizarding World of today, it is difficult to remember a time when magical and non-magical folk lived together. Since the signing of the Statute of Secrecy and founding of the magical school of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the British Isles in 1202, wizards and witches have lived apart from our non-magical and creature cousins. However, it is evident that this was not always the case. Within this book, I hope to impose a sense of how the world once was and what occurred after the Great Rift in 1183.

Some of you may be wondering what is the Great Rift? History of Magic lessons within Britain tend to leave this painful piece of history out and many historians even go so far as to reject that such an act ever occurred. The Rift is surrounded in mystery and led to the sordid and blood-soaked battles which ended in the signing of the Statute of Secrecy.

The ending of the 12th century was a dangerous time for all peoples, both magical or otherwise, and saw an upsurge in Witch Hunts to an unprecedented level. Before this time, all magical folk lived together: Creatures, Witches, Wizards, Mages, Sorcerors and Sorcoresses, even those of mixed blood such as Werecats, Veela and the Mauben. Into these times were born the four Founders: Helga Hufflepuff, the daughter of a healer and seamstress, Rowena Ravenclaw, the daughter of the King of Mercia's closest confidant, Godric Gryffindor, son of a esteemed knight and Salazar Slytherin, the son of a Druid priest. Little did people know that these four unlikely friends would create the new modern world. They would also, unfortunately, be the catalysts of the Rift between Latinised wizardry brought to the British Isles by Julius Caeser and those who practiced the ancient art of the Old Religion...

* * *

**An Excerpt from 'Mythical Creatures' by Janet Bartlett, Chapter 10: The Mauben**

Of all the creatures in this book, none are more elusive as the Mauben. Legend would have it that the Mauben are descended from the mythical Queen Mab of the Fae, although such rumours have little to no basis in fact. What is known is that the Mauben, such as they are, are affected by the change of the seasons, lunar cycle and specific points of the year such as Mid-Summer, Winter Solstice and Spring and Autumnal Equinoxes. Our best source for these creatures, is Professor McCladden, an esteemed Professor of Care of Magical Creatures at Hogwarts from 1709 to 1753, who claims to have made an extensive study of a supposed Mauben during his years teaching.

_The creature is fascinating,_ McCladden writes, _I have tried feeding it all manner of things, but still it refuses to eat meat in any form. Eggs, dairy and vegetation appear to be edible to it, however, so it may perhaps be a dietary preference than essential feeding habit. More interesting still, is the effect of the year on the creature. At certain times of the year, it will make all manner of escape attempts. I have observed that its powers are most powerful during Mid-Summer, Mid-Winter, the Equinoxes and All Hallows Eve as well as having an increased capacity during the phases of the full moon. I suspect it must feel the waxing and waning of magic at these times, but the language of the Mauben continues to be lost to me, so archaic in nature as it is._

The idea that the creature McCladden kept in a cage for fifty years was a Mauben is ludicrous, much like the idea that such creatures held the ability of apeech. It has been proven that McCladden more than likely had instead caged a particularly senstive species of pixie that was capable of sensing the changes to the natural flow of magic throughout the year. It is probable that the true Mauben were a relative to the modern House Elves, a mixing of Elvish and Fae species in a desperate attempt to preserve ancient creatures which, during the 13th and 14th centuries were rapidly going extinct...

* * *

**An Excerpt from 'King and Country: The Founding of Magical Britain' by D.M. Marblake, Chapter 3: King Arthur**

No telling of the Founding of Magical Britain would be complete without even a reference to the efforts of the non-magical king, Arthur Pendragon. While little is known of the man himself, his interests or personality, the magical world was able to preserve the words of a manservant within the castle of Camelot, a non-descript character by the name of George.

George describes Arthur as the perfect king, a man who appreciates all men for the individual talents and that he was chosen specifically by the King to teach his own personal manservant how to properly polish the brass (unfortunately, George does not deign to tell us the poor man's name). Interestingly, George makes note of a particular closeness between King and manservant, leading many a magical scholar to believe that Queen Guinevere may not have been the only adulterous partner within the relationship, although esteemed historian, Professor Myrddin Emerson, points out that George does not use this in a sexual context but instead to demean and complain of said manservant's apparent uselessness and lack of talent instead.

Nevertheless, George is an insight into the oft murky time of King Arthur. His account, while bias, reveals a figure who was well-placed in such dark times to dispeal fears of magic from non-magical folk. A man who cared for lords and peasants both, making the later Golden Age of magic possible even if, should George's account be believed, he did not live to see it. Missing also, is the legendary figure of Merlin, although it is possible that George was a member of the early Christian faith and simply left him out for religious reasons...

* * *

**An Excerpt from 'Debunking Myths' by Kanet Bartlett, Chapter 2: George**

If ever there was a more misused account of history, then it would be the supposed personal diary of George the manservant. In accounts detailing the time of the Muggle King, Arthur Pendragon, George is not mentioned and if one is to think logically, no doubt a likely fabrication.

Muggle historians are aware themselves of the high level of illiteracy during the Dark Ages, even without the application of transcribing charms. This means that George's account was far from personal- a man trained to polish brass would be unlikely to have been trained to also read and write. The Early Medieval Period had little use for uneccessary talents, with the Roman Empire now a broken mess, fractured into two, Saxons still prowling along the British shores and mounting evidence of growing famine sweeping the people of Ancient Britain. If George existed, his 'diary' would no doubt be a compilation of several servants' feelings, written down by the one scribe among them or, more likely, transcribed at a much later date, such as Geoffrey of Monmounth's fabricated history of this very period.

Furthermore to the argument against the supposed existence of George, is the complete and utter lack of character within the diary's pages. If one is to read the 'journal' they are more likely to learn the finer points of brass, silver and, if one is lucky, armour polishing. Only once every ten pages or so does George deign to mention something other than polishing, in a journal not even 100 pages long, usually to complain of his fellow manservants...

* * *

A man, sat within a small family-run cafe in rural Cokeworth, bursts in laughter, reading through a magical historians book. His waiter rolls his eyes and pours him more tea, sleeve revealing a black triskellion on his wrist.


	2. The fued continues

**An Excerpt from ' _Myths and Folktales of the Magical World: The Truth Behind the Curtain'_ by D.M. Marblake, Chapter 5: The Founders and the Druids**

It is a little known fact that Salazar Slytherin was born to a Druidic family in a medieval Druid camp. This is especially intriguing considering that Slytherin sided with the rest of the Founders during the Rift. However, relations with the Druids was not always so fraught with difficulty even in Slytherin's own time.

During the Purges of Uther Pendragon, the Druids were hunted almost into obscruity. Those that survived formed nomadic tribes which continued until the days of the Founders, some seven hundred years later. Many still flocked to the ancient site of Camelot, thought to exist somewhere in the South of England rather than the popularised Wales, influenced by the influx of peoples from the continent and the settling of the Magical and Muggle ancient capital of Winchester under the Muggle King Alfred. Others settled in forests all over Britain, in an attempt to stay close to the natural world, unlike the new Latin-using wizards who did not rely so heavily upon the elements and interactions with magical creatures.

Slytherin came from a family associated with Lord Ravenclaw. In those dark times, it was known that some Druids inter-married with the new burgeoning Houses (primarily formed of Muggles or half-bloods in today's terms) and many have speculated on a possible relation between Salazar and Rowena, whether it be familial or romantic. While this has never been confirmed, it is likely although the actual probability of a familial relationship is distant. Further to this, Rowena was known to have the greatest sympathy for the plight of the Druids throughout the Rift, second only to Salazar, and even briefly joined Slytherin in cutting ties with Godric Gryffindor at the height of the war...

* * *

**An Excerpt from ' _Debunking Myths_ ' by Janet Bartlett, Chapter 6: Salazar the Druid**

A pervasive and underground myth of so-called 'believers' is that Salazar Slytherin was born a Druid. The Druids during the era of the Founders were a far cry from the Druids who lived peacefully alongside Muggles in the so-called Dark Ages. Uther Pendragon hunted them into near extinction and much of their culture was lost in the transition from static practitioners of the Old Religion and Celtic Magic, to the nomads seven hundred years later. It is commonly agreed by both Muggle and magical historians that the Druids of the Founders had more in common with Muggle New Age Druidry than the true originals.

And underneath this pseudo-history is the belief that Salazar Slytherin was born a Druid on the lands of Lord Ravenclaw, Rowena Ravenclaw's father. There is no proof of this theory and, considering Slytherin's choices later in life, the theory falls flat under even the smallest modicum of scrutiny. The only true mystery is the moment in the 'Rift' wherein both Ravenclaw and Slytherin cut ties with Godric Gryffindor, a known son of a knight and later, a knight and lord himself. Knowing what we know about the man later in life, it is more likely that this brief parting of ways was influenced by the first whispers of witch hunts that began the Statute of Secrecy and the segregation of Latin-practising wizards and the last dregs of the Old Religion. While the event was unfortunate, it was no reason to lock out muggleborn children who were suffering at the hands of their deeply religious families who punished them for having magic.

The truth of the matter is, there was no possible way for Salazar Slytherin to have been born a 'Druid' considering the lack of true Druidic culture and population at the time and the idea that such a camp lived on Lord Ravenclaw's lands is ludicrous. However, some believers take the myth further to claim a relation between Rowena and Salazar, due to the known intermingling of Latin and Druidic cultures at the time. This is also an impossibility...

* * *

Severus Snape snapped the book shut with an irritated sigh and threw it into the rubbish bin next to the book titled 'Mythical Creatures', stood and stretched. Since it was Summer and he had nowhere to be, he decided to head to the Crystal Cafe for a cup of tea and better conversation than these books could offer. The waiter greeted him with a grin and a cup of his preferred Earl Grey. Sat at his usual table was the stooped form of an old man with golden eyes half hidden by bushy eyebrows and long white hair. Severus had once avoided him for the resemblance to Dumbledore.

Later inspection had shown him that the man was very far from what he had first thought.

"Hello Severus," the man greeted, sipping his own tea. "Got any good reads?"

"Those books you recommended are trash. It is as if the two authors don't care about anything except talking to each other than informing the reader," he sniffed as he sat. "Was the point to irritate me to death?"

"I thought they were amusing." Golden eyes sparkled in the sunlight and Severus rolled his eyes.

"You would take underhanded pleasure wouldn't you _Professor Emerson_."

"Thank you, it was quite amusing to be used as a source."

"You need better entertainment."

"Perhaps I should return to teaching."

"Only if you want to die of an aneurysm. They get dumber every year."

"Like Bartlett and Marblake?" Severus scowled at the man.

"I was, in fact, trying to _enjoy_ my summer break without being foisted on the idiotic dunderheads that attend that school," he said sourly. "What use is reading about incorrect facts I already know?"

"We don't all have a lead to Mab," Emerson said pleasantly. "How is she?"

"Laughing her ass off at the pair." Emerson snorted.

"And Dumbledore?"

"Getting more senile by the year."

"Nice tattoo," a woman commented from the next table over. She was eyeing the Mark on full display on his left arm, the sleeves of his emerald shirt rolled up from the heat. "Were you discussing Marblake's new book?" Severus sneered.

"No."

"Oh, I adore him," the woman continued, not taking any notice. "Much better than that stuck up Bartlett who talks down to you the whole time. And he has all these wonderful, first hand sources..."

"Hardly first hand if they're three hundred years out of date," Severus muttered. The woman didn't hear him, continuing to blather away about the idiots. Emerson gave him an amused glance.

"I have some rare herbs at my house," Emerson said conversationally. "Do you think you can use them in some potion or other? I have no use for them myself and wold hate to see them go to waste."

"Then don't pick them," Severus said pointedly, standing. He had barely been there five minuets. "Take me to your ruins then."

"How rude," Emerson sniffed. "I think I have another few copies of those books for you to read. Might even set an essay or two on them..."

"You will do no such thing!" Severus spat, following him from the cafe. As the two disappeared from the street, the waiter wandered up to the woman now talking to herself.

"Would you like another cup of tea, dear?" the golden-eyed girl asked.


End file.
